


The Prelude

by Airwalker



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Gen, One Shot Collection, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Shippuden, Rule 63, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 03:43:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16255967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Airwalker/pseuds/Airwalker
Summary: The time in between. One-shots and one offs pre-Shippuden.FemNarutoXSasuke





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Because Female!Naruto is everything. Mostly stays true to Canon.

Sasuke is only twelve years old when he falls in love. It happens somewhere between Haku’s needles and Naruto. The thing is that Sasuke is always scared. Ever since he was six years old, he’s been in a constant state of fear. He’s learned to use his cowardice to push himself in training, to become stronger. More and more often, he feels it’s an impossible task to measure up to that man. That man had already been impossibly strong at twelve, and at fourteen, he had laid waste to an entire clan. No matter how often he, or his academy teachers, petitioned the Hokage, he never granted an early graduation exam. 

Sometimes, it feels almost as though the village is working against him, to keep him weaker so that man can come back anytime and Sasuke would be just as useless as he was when he was six.

Sasuke is only twelve years old when he falls in love. It is the first time he’s not terrified of that man in six long years. But, when that fear comes back (and of course, it comes back), it’s somehow worse than before. He’s not terrified of being useless anymore, he’s terrified of that man killing the lovable, stupid, new people in his life.

When Orochimaru sends a squad to recruit him, he goes willingly. When Sasuke leaves Konoha, he’s not afraid and he’s breathing easy. Every step he takes away from the village, from Naruto, he feels stronger. Any rational person would be terrified at the thought of Orochimaru, but Sasuke knows the man is even stronger. Staying in the village, and growing weaker, is exactly what that man wanted.


	2. Insomnia

The first time Naruto thinks she's lucky to have lived her life the way it was, the first time she feels genuine pity for someone else is Haku. His life, at times like hers, was marked by loneliness and tragedy. She can relate on a molecular level to the first, but has little to no experience with loss. Naruto has never had much to lose. The first time Naruto feels loss is with Haku. He almost kills Sasuke and Naruto can still feel her helplessness, anguish, and that soul shaking rage when she closes her eyes to rest at Inari’s house after the bridge. Kakashi-sensei was adamant they leave as soon as possible, but it would simply be suicide to travel back to the land of Fire with him so chakra exhausted.  
  
So, here is Naruto next to Sakura’s even breathing, unable to close her eyes. She wonders if it's possible to sleep with her eyes open because she feels exhausted in a way she never has. Naruto doesn't truly ever feel tired. She's gone days without sleeping, when her favorite TV shows were on, but bounced into school the next day.  
  
But now, she can all but feel her bones sinking into the blankets and the tatami mats underneath. She can feel her eyes become heavy and her breathing even out. And then, with a start, she remembers the still body of her teammate, the rage crawling up her throat, and the tears pricking her eyes. She sits up with a start and shakes her head.  
  
“This isn't working,” she whispers to herself before climbing out as quietly as possible from the covers and out the door.  
  
Once outside, she immediately feels a bit better. The air is fresh and her teammates are alive.  
  
“Alright, Naruto, let's become strong like Haku,” she says, raising her fist to the sky in promise, “Dattebayo!”  
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
Naruto pulls her fist down so fast it almost hits her in the face.  
  
“Sasuke, you should be resting!” Naruto screams and yanks Sasuke by his sleeve to pull him into his room.  
  
“Keep your voice down, dobe,” Sasuke mutters in monotone, but makes no move to pull free of her or move from his spot outside.  
  
“Why are you awake?” Naruto asks, softer. She's revived to see him and moves her hand down to underneath his sleeve. She wishes she remembered all those basic first aid lessons. She's pretty certain that pulse can be checked somewhere around the wrist. With that thought, she moved her hand down to circle his wrist.  
  
“I was thirsty,” Sasuke lies smoothly. In reality, he's reeling from his actions on the bridge. On nights like this, he knows better than to try for sleep. He almost died to save this girl, someone who hadn't even mattered to him a few months ago. There's no denying that for that moment, Itachi didn't matter, his family didn't matter, and his revenge was forgotten. He feels the weight of the shame and guilt, for forgetting even for a moment. But, it's mixed with a relief that he actually could forget.  
  
Naruto looks tired though. The hair that generally sticks up everywhere is drooping and her usually bright eyes are dulled with exhaustion. But, her hand is moving down his arm and leaving behind a warmth that's beginning to gather in his stomach.  
  
“What are you doing?” He finally croaks out.  
  
“I couldn't sleep, hold still,” Naruto says, grabbing his arm firmly now and tracing down to his wrist.  
  
Sasuke always looks pretty and delicate, but his wrists are far bigger than hers and his hands are almost ugly looking, with scars and calluses. She wants to remember this to tell Sakura. It might cause Sakura to finally succeed in pulling all of her hair out.  
  
She finds his pulse at last and feels it against her fingers. Naruto thinks she might actually be able to sleep if she were to feel it. Sasuke briefly entertains the thought of pushing her away, but he’s too flattered by the attention.  
  
“I'm fine, dobe, let's get some water.” Sasuke doesn't push her hand off of his wrist. Instead, he turns his hand and holds hers as they walk to the kitchen.  
  
On the way, Naruto tells a purely bullshit story about a dream she had about a giant frog and a giant fox fighting over a leaf.  
  
“The fox would throw fire at the frog and the frog would throw water and then BAM! There’d be mist everywhere and that's when I woke up super, super thirsty,” Naruto says, enunciating each word with a wild hand gesture from her free hand.  
Sasuke doubts she managed to fall asleep at all but lets her false stories wash over him. At the very least, the dobe is imaginative.  
  
Water in hand, Sasuke leads them to the back porch and takes a seat against the wooden beam, pulling a puzzled Naruto down with him.  
  
“Aren't you going to bed, teme?” Naruto sounds both hesitant and hopeful. It's wrong of her, she knows, to hope Sasuke will stay with her. But, she dreads going back into her futon and lying awake, not sleeping, on edge, all night.  
  
“Hn.” Sasuke doesn't bother with words, reaching over and moving Naruto’s fingers back to his pulse. Then, he leans to the pillar and lets his eyes closed. Sasuke doubts he'll sleep but it's a surprisingly comfortable position.  
  
Naruto is quiet for some time after this. Sasuke is almost just asleep waiting for her to leave, stay, or say something when he feels a warm weight on his shoulder. Not long after, he drifts off quite easily.


	3. Heritage

On the walk back from Wave, Naruto begs and pleads until Kakashi gives in to stopping at the whirlpools. To be fair, Kakashi is the one who coyly mentions the whirlpools and how often, in the spring, they turn warm like a hot spring. Naruto takes the bait almost immediately and even Sakura looks interested but is darting glances at Sasuke as though he’s a fragile thing. The same glances she’s been shooting him since the bridge. It is so deeply annoying that Sasuke is on the verge on snapping when Kakashi gives in, as though it isn’t abundantly clear that is what he wanted all along. 

While they walk along to their quick detour, Kakashi tells them about the hidden village, Uzisho, with his porn book all but glued to his face.

“Ehh, if Wave has a hidden village, why’re we here?” Naruto says, her face all squished up as though she’s thinking extremely hard. It should make her look constipating, but Sasuke mostly thinks she looks cute. He feels vaguely betrayed by himself at the thought. 

Sakura answers with an almost textbook answer, “Uzisho was destroyed in the last war by Mizu. They were small to begin with though, but many say they were pretty strong.”

Kakashi has a serious air about him when he adds, “Uzisho was Konoha’s greatest ally and with their devastation, we lost many comrades and the greatest seal masters this world has seen.”  
Naruto looks depressed at the thought of Uzisho’s fall, though it was well before she was even born. 

“How did they destroy an entire village? Why didn’t we help? 

“We were already fighting with Kumo then and when our aid arrived, it was too late.” There’s something about Kakashi’s tone that says the conversation is over.

But, clearly, Naruto doesn’t hear it or care when she presses on bluntly, “Did you know people in Uzisho, Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi snaps the orange book shut, tucking it into his vest. For a moment, it seems as though he’s ignored Naruto’s question entirely. 

But then, he stops walking on as though he’s made up his mind about something, kneeling to get onto eye level with Naruto.

“I wasn’t born until a couple of years after Uzisho fell, Naruto-chan, but many refugees’ flooded into Konoha from Uzisho. One of them was my mother,” he pauses here, “as was at least one of your parents.”

“My parents?” Naruto looks lost and uncertain now.

“The name Uzumaki, Naruto-chan, it is the name of the greatest clan of Uzisho, this swirl,” Kakashi says, pointing to the swirl on his flak jacket, “Is their symbol."

Kakashi proceeds to pull out his book and walk on, as though he didn’t just drop an exploding tag on their teammate. Sakura and Sasuke exchange glances that clearly say their sensei is the worst with all things emotional. Then, moving in union, they flank Naruto at each of her sides. 

“That’s pretty cool, Naruto-chan, that your family has come from Uzisho,” Sakura starts, tone light and sweet. Sasuke forgets his earlier irritation because he truly had nothing to say.

“When we get back to Konoha, let’s read about the Uzumaki clan,” Sakura continues with a beaming smile. 

“Yeah,” Naruto still sounds a bit dazed, but then she smiles too and says, “I’m going to find out everything about the Uzumaki clan, believe it!”


	4. For Equality's Sake

Team Seven made good time with the second match, even with Orochimaru’s untimely appearance. Sasuke feels mostly normal after Kakashi’s temporary fix on the cursed seal and they only have about a half hour before the Hokage ordered everyone to meet in the chamber. The rookie nine seem to gathering again, but Sasuke doesn’t want any company. It’s been years since he’s met someone who outmatched him so considerably. And the strength of the cursed seal is more than he’s ever felt. It was almost freeing. Now, though, he’s just drained and wants to find a convenient corner to be alone. 

This is when the idiot finds him because of course she does. Naruto probably saw him deliberately leave everyone and thought to herself that she should keep him company. 

“Oi, jerkface, wait up.”

Sasuke deliberately hurries a bit. They’re both in a hallway a little far from the chamber where the other genin are gathering. 

Naruto catches up anyway and says, “God, can you be more of an idiot, who goes off alone when a super creep wants them?” 

“I don’t need a babysitter and what the hell will you do anyway?” Sasuke stops short, frustrated and angry. It’s entirely unwarranted though. Out of the three of them, Naruto managed to defeat the Sannin’s snake all alone. 

Naruto’s blue eyes dim with hurt, “It doesn’t really matter, we’re a team.” 

Sasuke wants to reply that he never wanted a team and that he doesn’t want one now. Sasuke wants very much to lash out at her. Instead, he just takes a long look at her, his team. Naruto seems completely recovered from the forest but her hair is falling out of her pigtails and there seems to be dirt almost all over her clothes. Her face is a bit chubby with what Sakura laughingly refers to as baby-fat. Her eyes still hold his attention, big and clear blue with long lashes. Sasuke can feel his heart race again and thinks maybe the cursed mark is activating. There’s been a pressure in his chest that has risen steadily since the forest. He’s suddenly not sure what he was doing: going off alone, or arguing with Naruto who, against all odds, fought for him. 

Naruto’s eyebrows draw together with concern, “Sasuke, are you ok?”

Sasuke swallows, his mouth dry, and then reaches out to hold her steady by the shoulders. Naruto stills when he touches her. He steps closer to her until they’re lined up perfectly, facing each other. Sasuke takes one hand and traces up from her shoulder to the back of her neck, stroking her jaw line a bit as he goes. There’s a flush climbing up into Naruto’s cheeks, but she’s still holding still. Then, he kisses her. She’s so soft, just as soft as he’ll never admit to imagining, and Sasuke brushes her lips again, feeling her kiss back a little. That pressure seems to be easing and in place, he feels warm all over. He sighs a little and kisses her one more time before letting her go entirely. Naruto’s eyes flutter open and he can see the ring of very light blue around her iris. He’s standing so close that he can see every individual eyelash. 

Naruto is definitely about to speak though, so it’s time for a strategic retreat. Sasuke leaves before Naruto can gather up the words or her fists.

There’s no breathing time in between the Forest and the preliminary matches to process that he kissed the Dobe, let alone the Sannin Orochimaru’s sudden appearance and subsequent hickey tattoo. Overall, Sasuke would generalize his general well-being as a cross between affronted, confused, and dead tired. Not that it mattered much, no one bothered to ask. Everyone had basically given him a wide berth, except for Naruto. She acted entirely herself, namely as though everything was the same but her new precious person, Lee, being in the hospital. Even Kakashi asked status updates only of Sakura, who replied with the same brutally textbook attitude she used towards any and every ninja activity. Most of the time, Sakura acted as a complete airhead over Sasuke. This made him even more frustrated whenever he saw glimpses of the efficient and capable ninja she could be. It caused the kind of quick temper Sasuke has never seen in himself. 

Before having to see his team every day since he graduated, he hadn’t interacted with someone, spoken to someone in more than five words, since that night. And before then, he remembered only his family. And in his family, the ninja arts were everything. No one hid the talent that the clan valued more than anything. But now, he’s surrounded always. Where ever he turns, Kakashi is there, lecturing or giggling into his orange book, or Naruto is chattering away, or Sakura is twiddling her thumbs and acting stupider than she is, or finally snapping and fighting with the blond menace. Where ever he turns, he is the last thing from alone and it itches under his skin. But then, one of them says or does something in a particular brand of incredible and soothes the burn.

The day after the second stage, every participant gets a recovery day before they begin training. Sasuke thought that wouldn’t apply to him and Team Seven but Kakashi had dismissed them with orders to meet the day after, leaving him with a restlessness under his skin. Even Naruto and Sakura seem surprised as soon as Kakashi dispels (their sensei has never been as normal as to just walk away). 

Sakura turns to face him, looking ready to ask the same question she asks almost every time they both have time on their hands, but then mutters under her breath before saying out loud,

“Ugh, I had a huge fight with my mom about helping my dad out today with the roof,” 

“Sakura-chan, is everything okay?” Naruto turns to her, her blue eyes big with concern and so sincere it makes Sasuke want to hide her somewhere. Honestly, what kind of ninja wears their heart on the sleeve like this?

Sakura smiles genuinely, “Yeah, it’s all good, Naruto-chan, don’t even worry about helping, Dad will pitch a fit just seeing me there on a day off, he thinks he can do everything himself.” Sakura’s voice is the mix of annoyed and fond that only ever gets directed towards family. 

Sakura jumps up to the rooftop smoothly and starts moving to what Sasuke imagines is the direction of her house. Sasuke feels tense at him and Naruto being alone together again, after what happened in the forest.  

“Well, then, I’m getting ramen!” Naruto says to seemingly no one and starts towards the stand she frequents. Once she gets a few steps away, she yells back at Sasuke,

“Ugh, are you going to stand there like an idiot, or come?”

Sasuke feels irritated immediately. Honestly, how is he the idiot? But, his feet start walking towards her before he can think anything of it.

Within a couple minutes of their meal, Naruto is busy recounting the first two stages of the Chunin exams, complete with special effects courtesy of the chopsticks and togarashi seasoning. 

“I mean the snake man was definitely the creepiest part, but when the snake ate me, I swear,” Naruto says with a shudder.

Teuchi and Ayame, the ramen shop owner and his daughter, seem more and more worried as Naruto goes on.

“Wait,” Ayame interrupts, putting the noodles she was placing in the boiling water to the side, “eaten by a snake?” 

“Yeah, nee-chan, you shoulda seen the size of that thing and when I burst out, it was so nasty,” Naruto says, entirely unperturbed. Teuchi seems to be piling more meat into Naruto’s ramen as though to make up for Orochimaru's pet snake. 

Sasuke thinks he could really like this ramen shop. After their ramen meal, Sasuke tells Naruto he’ll be going to the pond by his house to practice Katon. She seems to take this as an invitation. Sasuke thinks he should probably shoo her away, lest she become attached and take to following him everywhere. But, well, he could probably use some sparring practice and it’s not like his Katon needs any improvement.

Though Sasuke beat Naruto five out of five times in their taijutsu only spars, he’s panting quite a bit while her breathing has mostly leveled out. He’s not at all jealous of her stamina. They’ve been in a companionable silence for some time now and he’s even thinking about inviting her to have some water at his house. Just a glass of water, he thinks, and then I’ll tell her to leave.

Suddenly, Naruto loses her mind. “You can't keep doing that!” she screams at Sasuke, face red and panting like she's been running a mile.

Sasuke looks up from where he's sitting on the pier. They haven’t moved from the Uchiha land, overlooking that pond he used to practice katon over and over on. He feels strangely tranquil, still evening out his breathing. Normally, just the sight of Naruto angry or yelling is reason enough to get him riled up and ready to fight. But, he’s been distracted and calm lately, feeling the curse mark settle as he mulls over a decision he feels like he’s already made. Even the sight of Naruto angry isn’t enough to faze him. 

“Sit down, dobe,” Sasuke interrupts what looks to be one of Naruto’s long-winded, loud rants.

Naruto looks surprised for just a moment before plopping down beside him, turning to face him, and then continuing exactly where she left off,

“You can’t keep doing that! Fighting with me or insulting me, I mean, I’m fine with that you’re a jerkface asshole, if you were nice or something,” Naruto takes a moment to shudder at the thought of a nice Sasuke, weird wouldn’t cover that, “that would be so weird, but these, these,” Naruto is completely red faced as she tries to form a word. It looks a little like she’s moving her mouth and throwing up. 

More than a little weirded out, Sasuke counts her eyelashes instead. It’s a new hobby of his that he’s deliberately spent no time thinking about. Naruto, tomboyish and garish orange clothes aside, has incredibly delicate looking eyes. Big, clear blue, all framed with dark blonde lashes.

“These, these assaults on my person cannot be tolerated!” Naruto finally finishes, slapping the wood of the pier hard to emphasize her point. 

“What the actual fuck are you talking about, dobe,” Sasuke doesn’t really curse in public. He thinks his mom would probably disapprove, but with his blond team mate, it seems easy to drop the formalities. 

“First, those were surprisingly big words for you and second, I don’t assault your person!” Sasuke says the part through gritted teeth.

“Oh yeah!” Naruto says, animated and angry, “What do you call what happened after the forest, asshole?” while gesturing wildly between their faces. 

Sasuke feels his whole body warm and his heart race. He was kind of hoping she’d forgotten all about that. Sasuke desperately wants to play it cool. As though he has no idea what she’s talking about. Or, maybe he can play the curse seal card. He wasn’t in his right mind and Orochimaru’s seal made him spontaneously kiss the idiot. 

Instead, he just stares at her with his mouth dropped open slightly. Naruto finds the sight funny enough that it takes the edge off of her embarrassment and anger. 

“I mean, like it’s not right to just kiss someone, with no warning and then not even mention it for days,” Naruto says, quieter and calmer while turning to face the pond and kicks her foot out to touch the water. 

Sasuke snaps his mouth shut, “I’m sorry.”

Naruto feels pretty disappointed and responds before she can think, as usual, “Why?” She sounds pretty disappointed too. Which is ridiculous, she’s not a fan girl or something. She’s not  _ disappointed  _ or upset or any kind of anything except completely affronted at the attack on her dignity. 

She then tries to walk back how that sounds, “I mean, you did it bastard so why are you sorry now?” 

Sasuke is quiet again but nudges even closer to her until his arm is just brushing hers, “I need to get stronger.” 

Naruto has never met someone with such a one track mind. Honestly, what does that have to do with anything?

“Okay,” Naruto says plainly, “so we’ll get stronger.”

Sasuke just looks at her and scoffs, but he’s half smiling too, like he believes her. Naruto can’t help but beam at that. Smiles on Sasuke are just about as common as Kakashi-sensei being on time. They don’t happen, ever. Even a half-smile is rarer than a blue moon. Sasuke wants to argue with her again but instead, he finds himself distracted by her eyes, lashes and all. Naruto notices how close they are and how they seem to be getting even closer. 

Suddenly, there’s a strange tension in the air. Naruto can feel herself flush and a nervous feeling seems to climb from the very tips of her toes all the way up her body. Her stomach flips the moment she realizes that Sasuke is definitely looking at her lips again, just like he did before. Naruto absolutely doesn’t want to spend the next coming days training for the final exam while simultaneously thinking over why on earth Sasuke kissed her. So, she does the next logical thing. For Naruto. 

Naruto leans in and kisses him, lightly but firmly. Then, ignoring the way her lips are now tingling pleasantly, she says, “There, now we’re even!

She doesn’t stay for water. 


End file.
